Press Release: President Barroso and nine members of the Commission head to Moscow for meetings with the Russian Government

On 6 February, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and nine Members of the European Commission (Vice-Presidents G. Verheugen, J. Barrot, S. Kallas, and A. Tajani; and Commissioners S. Dimas, J. Almunia, B. Ferrero-Waldner, A. Piebalgs, and C. Ashton) will go to Moscow to meet the Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian government. The purpose of this high-level meeting is to address important bilateral issues and to set out the strategic direction for EU-Russia relations in the coming years. In addition to pressing common concerns such as the current global economic crisis and the international climate change negotiations, the Commission and the Russian Government will discuss a wide array of crucial bilateral topics, including security of energy supplies, trade and border crossing issues.